A decades-old U.S. intelligence satellite has reportedly broken apart in low-Earth orbit, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) recently confirmed, prompting assessments of possible risks to existing spacecraft posed by the resulting debris.
U.S. Space Forces-Space (S4S) confirmed the apparent breakup of USA 32, a Cold War-era U.S. surveillance satellite, which occurred around 21:13 UTC on September 13. The destruction of the spacecraft, catalogued as object 19460, was reported by Space-Track and revealed in a recent notice published by USSF’s KeepTrack Operations Center (KTOC).
“All tracked debris are being incorporated into routine conjunction assessment screenings to support spaceflight safety,” S4S said in a statement on its website. “No immediate threats have been identified; further analysis is ongoing.”
Based on public catalog records, USA 32 is identified as an electronic and signals intelligence satellite, which during its time in service was operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the U.S. intelligence agency that manages satellite intelligence.
Launched nearly four decades ago aboard a Titan II launch vehicle, the satellites in this signals intelligence operation were given the unique codename FARRAH, a name inspired by actress Farrah Fawcett.
KeepTrack categorized the recent incident as an “announced breakup,” as opposed to a possible fragmentation event, following the official confirmation by the USSF.
Records indicate that orbital data associated with the former spy satellite also indicated changes around the time of the event, which included an estimated change in velocity of around 0.30 meters per second.
Presently, no official cause for the breakup has been announced.
According to data provided by KeepTrack, determining the extent of the event will require ongoing tracking of the resulting fragments of newly identified debris associated with USA 32, which should eventually appear under the spacecraft’s original launch designation (1988-078) within the public catalog.
Naturally, the space debris raises concerns for USSF officials, since it can present hazards to currently operational spacecraft. This remains the case even when the fragments are small, since objects in low-Earth orbit can travel up to several kilometers per second, meaning that a collision could potentially damage or even disable some spacecraft, leading to the potential for additional problematic debris.
Although USSF officials have not yet identified any immediate danger associated with USA 32’s breakup in orbit, observation and cataloguing of the suspected debris will provide additional information for researchers, which will help determine how extensive the fragmentation was and whether any complications may arise from it.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.